The European Union’s top antitrust enforcer has called for Europe to consider sharing evidence of companies’ illegal price-fixing with regulators in other countries, such as the United States.
Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, said regulators investigating cartels have “frequent and intense” contact with the US, Canada and Japan on strategy and on individual cases.
She said it was regrettable that they could not currently share evidence allowing officials to take united action against multinational companies’ misdeeds.
“The time has come to explore ways to enhance some of our bilateral agreements and to share such information among a small number of enforcers,” she said.
American and European agencies often follow each other in taking action against companies suspected of breaking antitrust rules by limiting the supply or fixing the price of goods.
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But they have taken very different paths on high-profile cases such as Microsoft’s monopoly abuse and General Electric’s 2001 takeover of Honeywell - abandoned after the EU rejected a deal the US had cleared.
Ms Kroes defended EU moves to police companies based elsewhere that operate in Europe, the world’s largest consumer market, and EU efforts to export its antitrust model around the world, saying it was “no sin to encourage others to import its best features.”
“It is Europe which is encouraging others to dance to our tune,” she said in prepared comments distributed by her Brussels office for a speech she gave in Innsbruck, Austria.
EU officials have held talks with Russia and China about setting up their own antitrust frameworks and want to include state subsidy curbs in free trade pacts with South Korea and India.
Alexandra Kamerling, a partner in DLA Piper’s EU and competition team, said: “Before the regulators are allowed to share even more information there would need to be greater protection required for companies and individuals.
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“The US regulators are already not shy of using extradition of individuals, and US claimants have asked for EC Commission papers to assist in their damages lawsuits.”
However as Ms Kroes’ speech makes clear - every closer cooperation between anti-trust regulators is a realty that all international companies must be aware of.”
Stephen Rose, a competition partner at Eversheds, said: “Ms Kroes’ call for ;actionable evidence’ sharing in cartel cases may be premature given the inconsistent rules in different countries as to how that information can be used and disclosed.”